Discover Financial Services and National Payments Corporation of India have agreed on a deal that will result in Discover cards and Diners Club International cards at National Payment ATMs and point-of-sale terminals for purchases in India. It also will allow RuPay (the national card payment network in India) cardholders to utilize the Discover, Diners Club International and PULSE networks for international purchases and cash access outside of India.

Under the terms of the agreement, point-of-sale and ATM transactions by RuPay network cardholders within India will be processed on the RuPay network. Outside of India, RuPay Global Card transactions will be processed on the Discover, Diners Club and PULSE ATM networks. The long-term agreement will result in increased transaction volume on National Payments' ATM and on their soon-to-be implemented POS network in India, as well as increased transaction volume on the Discover, Diners Club and PULSE networks, the company said.

"This partnership with RuPay further demonstrates our commitment to creating an ecosystem where local networks can thrive and offer more value and utility to their cardmembers," said Diane Offereins, executive vice president and president of Discover Payment Services. "By opening up our global payments network to RuPay cardmembers, we are participating in one of the fastest growing countries for payment cards in the world. Discover and Diners Club cardmembers also will benefit from their ability to more broadly use their cards to access cash or make purchases throughout India."

Discover's network to network alliances include UnionPay in China, JCB in Japan, BCcard in Korea and DinaCard in Serbia.

"The network-to-network alliance between Discover Financial Services and National Payments Corporation of India have agreed on a deal that will result in the issuance of RuPay Global cards once the domestic RuPay cards being launched later this month stabilize," said A.P. Hota, chief executive officer and managing director of National Payments Corporation of India. "RuPay will be the premier Indian payment card scheme, offering state-of-the-art technology that is secure, robust, scalable, simple and cost effective."